The Bobby Oxspring Spitfire Mk1 build....

BarryW

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I have finished the mainframe surface prep. After applying Mr Dissolved Putty to the seams and allowing it to cure I sanded it back and then did some re-scribing. I finished with an overall light sanding with a 1500 grade sanding sponge. Finally I wiped it all over with damp blue roll to remove any dust.

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The another primer coat. Often I find a further treatment of some seams is necessary, or a re-scribe, but not this time.

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A Spitfire in black undies is almost as sexy as Eva Herzigova in hers......

I will run over the model with a polishing sponge before I lay down a base coat. errr, the Spitfire that is, not Eva, mind you...
 
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BarryW

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I have been getting in with my favourite parts of a build, the painting.

First up I painted the underside Sky. It is the underside where the black basing really helps most in modulating the colour. The effect I want is fairly subtle and I am pleased with the look.

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After some masking I went on to paint the Dark Earth.
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The lighting has somewhat ‘washed out’ the picture but you might be able to make out the colour modulation, again the black basing did its job. Again I managed quite a subtle effect.

Next I went on to mask up for the camo. For this I used Panzer Putty, a brilliant material for masking flowing camo schemes and here is how I use it.

First I apply a snake of the material just inside the area being masked off in roughly the right shape. Then I start working the material with a finger, pushing and pressing it into shape.

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Then I do the same at the opposite side of the area being masked off.

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Above the snake is just paid down in roughly the right place.m Below is after working the edge by pressing and pushing. It is very easy to make small shape adjustments with this material.
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Then I fill the area between these snakes with more material.
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you do need to be careful about making sure there are no gaps.

Here is the camo done.

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The great thing about this is how it sinks into the detail so you don’t get any paint seeping underneath. Capillary action is great for extra thin cement but is a pain when painting.

I have, in the past left this on overnight before painting, as long as 24 hours later. This is OK but you will find that the material will ‘run’ and it will need some tidying up before spraying. It’s not a problem and just takes a few minutes to do so. in this case it was not an issue as I had time to spray immediately after a final check of the masking.

After I sprayed the RAF Dark Green, I used some RAF Light Green sprayed inside panels and on highlights to modulate the colour. The result looks wrong, a bit patchy and the lighter green’s tone does not look quite right. See below...... No problem, there is another stage.

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I loaded some more RAF Dark Green and went over the model with a mist coat, it helps ‘blend’ the look and I then go over the model again in a more targeted way in areas where I felt the contrast remained too much.

I then finished off by a mist coat of MLT, loaded straight into the ‘dirty, airbrush cup and do another mist coat. Effectively I am spraying a very thinned Dark Green as a final ‘blending coat’. It also serves as the first stage in cleaning the airbrush. I end up with this. A much more subtle modulation.
A8DFF9BD-B515-480F-86CC-6B3364EE0FCA.jpeg

this way it is very easy and controllable to get the effect that you want. If building a desert based aircraft you can have a more ‘sun bleached’ effect....

It is important to note that the Panzer Putty reacts to the lacquer thinner so don’t remove it too quickly after spaying. You need to wait for the paint to dry and then the putty to settle first or you could have some problems.

In all I waited for 15 minutes after spraying the MLT coat before removing the Panzer Putty. Note that this putty sticks best to other putty, so any residual bits left on the model are easiest remove by being dabbed by Panzer Putty.

All in all this is the best material you can use for masking wave style camo schemes.

Here she is, I have just got to remove the hard edge tape masking off the Sky
9362A4A1-D33C-425A-84C0-3A651F59547A.jpeg

I am still waiting for the canopy masks in the post, hopefully they won’t be long...
 
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BarryW

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Panzer Putty is also particularly good at localised masking for touch ups. On removing the tape I found just two places that needed touching up, an area of Dark Earth and an area of Sky

Below I spent just seconds positioning two pieces of PP to spray the Sky touch up.

0D6A3E90-6C28-4B29-B627-405EC63784BA.jpeg


The DE next and all done.

I am leaving the model for a bit to cure off and tomorrow I will apply some tape to spray first the red gun patches and then the no walk lines. I might even have time to mask and spray the roundels and fin flashes. I am going to need those canopy masks soon.....
 

BarryW

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By the way, I did not mention it, the Panzer Putty is reusable.
Somehow it seems to absorb the overspray. When taken off the model it goes straight back into the tin until next time. The current batch has been used more than half a dozen times and there is lots of life in it yet.
 

BarryW

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Barry,
All looking very nice mate.
Thank you.

I popped back to spray the red gun patches. Decals are supplied but never use a decal if you can paint something and these are so easy to paint.

first - masking up using Mk1 eyeball.


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when spraying problematical colours always start with a suitably coloured primer. White, yellow and sometimes red can be problematical specially over dark or multicoloured surfaces. So I am using the MRP red oxide primer. I also decided to use a different shade of red to the dull roundel red as these were coloured patches, not sprayed from the same paint tin as the markings. Consequently I decided on signal red.

FF7B4194-2A5F-4CF1-9F1F-FEB630655E54.jpeg

First a fairly light dusting of the primer then a second light dusting. This just provides base for the main colour.
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Then the base colour. All we are really doing is tinting the primer shade to the right colour and not much paint at all is needed.
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It is really important to use the lowest possible air pressure in these situations. MRP are ideal for this given that they naturally spray best at a low psi.
if the air pressure is too high the paint will be pushed into the corners of the tape or around the curve of the front of the wing.

Tape removed and perfectly painted gun patches. No touching up at all needed.

E3B092E6-587A-4904-B053-DE910FFF81E3.jpeg

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I will be painting the no walk lines next but that won’t be until tomorrow.
 
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Looking good Barry. How do you go about your modulating. Do you do a primer coat followed by panel patches in something darker and then onto main colour over top until you have good coverage but can just see the previous colour underneith?
 

BarryW

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Looking good Barry. How do you go about your modulating. Do you do a primer coat followed by panel patches in something darker and then onto main colour over top until you have good coverage but can just see the previous colour underneith?

it is simpler than that. The black primer forms my black basing. Over the primer I spray a light overall coat of the base colour and then I concentrate on the inside of panels and areas that catch the light. This lightens these areas and creates a contrast with the rest. You stop at a point before you achieve the effect you want, this is important as it’s easy to overdo it. The you spray an overall mist coat of the base colour, do it slowly allowing a little time between coats for it to dry, stopping when you get to the effect/contrast that you want. Sometime you will need to work some localised areas where it is darker than you want. I always finish by adding Mr Levelling Thinner (MTL) to the empty cup and doing an overall mist coat which reactivates the paint and improves the finish. Do not flood the MLT whatever you do. Sometimes, like this build, I want a more subtle effect, sometimes I want a dirtier finish or, particularly in the case of a desert based aircraft, I want a much more sun bleached effect. This method is controllable enough to get whatever you want. On darker colours, such as the Dark Green of this build, the black basing does not do the job, in this case because it was applied over the Dark Earth. So in this situation you need to post-shade with a lighter shade of the base colour or, perhaps, add a spot of white to the base colour. Apply this to the inside of the panels and areas that catch the light. When I do this i will set out to exaggerate the contest I want to then tone it down with mist coats of the base colour.

This method works well with water based paint, such as Vallejo MA as well as the lacquers I use. I won’t know whether MLT will work with them though. If using water based paints you may need to do thin to varying degrees, for post-shading and mist coats even if using Model Air, non of which is necessary with MRP lacquers, except for the final MLT application that is, which is part of the airbrush cleaning regime anyway.

One important point, it must not look too even and regular. I have seen models done using post and pre-shading as well as black basing that demonstrate superb airbrush skills but the models look wrong simply because they look too neat as a result of those skills...
 

BarryW

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No walk line painting. I will cut the ‘No Walk’ writing from the decals to use but these painted lines are so much better than decals. Never use a decal when you can mask and paint....

it is just so easy to do....

First, using the decals as a guide I found some masking tape of exactly the right width. It is for this reason that I have tape of all the different widths I can get.

I applied this tape where the lines go.
8B2B7F4E-B3FC-42EE-85C2-BFDE6EC734E5.jpeg

I then apply a piece of wider tape butted up against this thin tape.
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and remove the thin tape.
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And widen the masked area
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Here are all the lines masked.
092E4221-98B8-4727-B44A-C877C8FD513E.jpeg

It is again important to spray in very light coats at a very low air pressure. I decided to use the primer black for this.

all done, perfect no walk lines, so much easier than trying to lay down long thin strips of decal and then bed it into the detail.
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D

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Never use a decal when you can mask and paint....
I have recently arrived at the same conclusion, Barry. And your no-walk line technique is simple, but brilliant. Thanks for the post.
 
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it is simpler than that. The black primer forms my black basing. Over the primer I spray a light overall coat of the base colour and then I concentrate on the inside of panels and areas that catch the light. This lightens these areas and creates a contrast with the rest. You stop at a point before you achieve the effect you want, this is important as it’s easy to overdo it. The you spray an overall mist coat of the base colour, do it slowly allowing a little time between coats for it to dry, stopping when you get to the effect/contrast that you want. Sometime you will need to work some localised areas where it is darker than you want. I always finish by adding Mr Levelling Thinner (MTL) to the empty cup and doing an overall mist coat which reactivates the paint and improves the finish. Do not flood the MLT whatever you do. Sometimes, like this build, I want a more subtle effect, sometimes I want a dirtier finish or, particularly in the case of a desert based aircraft, I want a much more sun bleached effect. This method is controllable enough to get whatever you want. On darker colours, such as the Dark Green of this build, the black basing does not do the job, in this case because it was applied over the Dark Earth. So in this situation you need to post-shade with a lighter shade of the base colour or, perhaps, add a spot of white to the base colour. Apply this to the inside of the panels and areas that catch the light. When I do this i will set out to exaggerate the contest I want to then tone it down with mist coats of the base colour.

This method works well with water based paint, such as Vallejo MA as well as the lacquers I use. I won’t know whether MLT will work with them though. If using water based paints you may need to do thin to varying degrees, for post-shading and mist coats even if using Model Air, non of which is necessary with MRP lacquers, except for the final MLT application that is, which is part of the airbrush cleaning regime anyway.

One important point, it must not look too even and regular. I have seen models done using post and pre-shading as well as black basing that demonstrate superb airbrush skills but the models look wrong simply because they look too neat as a result of those skills...
Thanks for the detailed explanation Barry.
 

adt70hk

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Looking very good as always Barry.

ATB

Andrew
 

BarryW

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Unfortunately I found that the masks for the markings are not sized properly for this model. There is not much in it but it’s enough to cause positioning problems particularly for the top wing roundels as they are very precise going between the ailerons and red gun patch, with the narrowing wing. These were sized for the old Revell and Hasegawa kits and, though there should not be a difference, there is. I don’t know if this kit is very slightly under scale or if the old Revell and Hasegawa are over scale, as it’s two to one I suspect that it’s this kit being under-scale.

I decided to put this mask set, kept intact, in the spares box as, who knows, they might be of use on a future project.

So, do I get another set of masks or not? With the sizing issue it would have to be a set made for this model but I did not find a set previously hence buying the one I did.

I decided to go with the Revell kit decals as I don’t want to risk wasting more money on masks that don’t fit.

This is a real pain as painted markings are so much better, but at least the Revell decals are not as bad as others and tend to conform reasonably well and are more resistant to tearing than most.

I have taken it slowly. Below I have applied the main starboard decals and have attached a piece of masking tape to help position the serial number. As you can see the red dot in the roundel is separate. I will apply that after the first application (of several) dose of softening solution.
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one problem is getting the decals to fully conform and even with solution the may not do so into every bit of detail. Consequently after the first dose of solution I go round with a pointed scriber, running it gently along panel lines and poking in rivet holes. Then the second dose of solution. I am using Daco Strong. Below it’s mostly done, a bit more to do. Hopefully the wash will work as well over the decals as a result. as it does over the paint....

6F636E8B-CC3A-4593-8357-FC7A0BC36845.jpeg

Getting the underside decals in place on a Spitfire is always a challenge due to the bulges it has to fit over. It helps to make small slits in the decals with a craft knife in the right places. Some touching up with paint is usually necessary. One reason it’s easier to use masks, no colour matching issues arise for obvious reason, though, thankfully in this case it looks as if only the white is a problem so it should be easy.

Below is after the second application of softener and after being left overnight. As you can see I still have some ‘bubbles’ around the detail to sort so I need to apply the knife to them and apply another coat of softener.

74F3FB0D-F09F-4550-ADD9-933A5F9BE56A.jpeg


Here is a quick shot of the top. I still have another coat of decal solution to apply, the third, there is a stubborn ‘bubble’ on one of the decals.

BCD16687-7AFF-4CA3-928E-A7C669DC5DAA.jpeg
 

BarryW

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I should add that I did not go a gloss coat before applying the decals. This is because the MRP is so very smooth, has a gloss/semi-gloss finish and is helped as it is by the light sanding between coats and, above all, the mist spray of MLT that I do. A gloss coat is just not necessary and I can confirm that I have no silvering at all to contend with.
 

Vaughan

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All's looking good Barry despite being unable to use the masks. I've always found the Revell decals have been good despite being a little on the thick side looking forward to the finished photos.
 

Steven000

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Nice progress Barry,
I too used the Revell decals and was quite happy how they turned out.
Looking forward to the rest of your build :thumb2:
 

stillp

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Looking good Barry. Those rivets aren't exactly subtle though are they, considering the scale. Great paintwork as always. In some of your photos the green looks glossier than the brown - is that just the photos, or is the sheen visibly different on the actual model?
Pete
 
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